Materials

 

All our riding includes features

- Sas Tec CE Level 2 shoulder armor

- Sas Tec CE Level 2 elbow armor

- Sas Tec CE Level 2 knee armor

- Sas Tec CE Level 2 back protector

- Sas Tec CE Level 2 hip armor

 

The special characteristics of the unique SAS-TEC foam:

• Viscoelastic foam with memory effect: After an impact or any kind of deformation the foam (protector) quickly returns to its original shape.
• Multi impact compliant: Unlike many other dampening materials (such as styrofoam (EPS), silicone or foam of inferior quality) the PU-foam is multi impact compliant. Thus impacts or high pressure do not destroy the protector even when the same area is affected repeatedly. The protector keeps its full functional capability.
• Excellent residual forces: The CE-approved protectors of SAS-TEC remain up to 50 per cent below the legal values of the norm EN 1621.
• Lightweight: high absorbability despite low density. Hard shell protectors or materials containing silicone are considerably more heavy which reduces the wearing comfort. The density of the SAS-TEC foam is about 280 g/l, hard shells in contrast have an average density of 1050 g/l.
• Adaptive absorption: The air which is embedded in the foam cells provoke a progressive absorption. The protector remains soft in case of slowly increasing forces, however when it comes to a fast heavy impact the resistance of the foam grows with increasing speed.
• In impulse responding behaviour: Contrary to hard shell protectors, styrofoam damper or many other dampening materials, SAS-TEC foam reacts promptly and without any time delay even to minor impacts. The energy absorption goes almost linear, which keeps the impact forces to the human body at a low level.
• Environmental compatibility: The raw materials for our foam production are partly made of renewable materials. It is therefore possible to dispose of the protectors with the regular household garbage.
• Long product life: Some manufacturers of body protection only indicate a product life of two to three years for their articles, whereas SAS-TEC foam comes with a life expectancy of ten years.
• Temperature stability: Due to a special mixture SAS-TEC foam resists temperatures of approx. 100 degrees C (212 degrees F). Conventional PU-foam is only able to stand temperatures of approx. 60 degrees C without taking damage.
• Comfort: The high flexibility of the foam ensures outstanding comfort.
• Washable (hand wash): The cell structure of our SAS-TEC foam keeps water from entering the material -  the water absorption is below one per cent. Therefore hand wash can be recommended without hesitation.

 

Lets start by talking about how armor should perform in case of an impact:

• The time taken to reach peak force should be delayed as much as possible so the body has time to accommodate
• The force should be dissipated in a linear manner – not too fast
• The maximum residual force should be as low as possible

Let's start by taking a look at hard shell protectors:

Hard Shell protectors

The force gradient of this hard shell protector (in this case from a major Italian brand) shows clearly the flat rising at the beginning. The reason is the comfort liner under the hard shell. At 4.0 milliseconds (ms) the soft foam is completely compressed without any noteworthy energy-reduction effect. At 4.0 ms the hard shell starts with damping – the effect is a buckle in the force gradient. In practice this effect will lead to broken bones. The maximum residual force of 34 kN in fact stays under the standard (EN 1621-1) limit of 35 kN, but in reality is way too high. Another unfavorable aspect of the force gradient is the extreme steep gradient of the curve. The occurred energy will be reduced within a very short time –bad for the human body! A leading criterion is the gradient of the curve in kN per millisecond. In this case the gradient in the important area (between 4.0 and 4.5 ms on the timeline) lies at about 50 kN/ms.

Lets also take a look at rubber-based protectors:

Rubber Protectors

This force gradient is similar to the one of the hard shell model. In addition the protector of rubber material (from an established Scandinavian brand) with kind of lattice structure possesses a very high residual force - and reduces the energy in a too short time for the human body. The gradient between 3.5 and 4.3 ms represents over 30 kN/ms! The distinctive buckle is not as extreme as the one of the hard shell but however is still not optimal– and in practice the bones under this protector will concede as well.

Now lets take a look at Sas-Tec:

Sas-Tec Results

 

The protector from SAS-TEC shows an ideal force gradient. The residual force of only 11.7 kN is very low and the gradient is excellent as well. From the beginning at 2.0 ms up to the force maximum at 5.18 ms the curve shows an almost linear gradient with only 3.7 kN/ms! This is how you prevent the body from damage by perfect damping.

What's the difference?

Sas-Tec vs hard shell protector

The comparison between a hard shell protector and the SAS-TEC protector allows a clear explanation of the other differences between these types. It's not only the difference in maximum force reduction and gradients of the curves. The third aspect that plays an important role is the time that passes until the peak of the force. The longer this time - the better for the body. If the energy is reduced in a very short time (as with a hard shell protector) the exposure for the body is very high. But if the energy is reduced over a long span of time (as with the SAS-TEC model) then this exposure is significantly reduced.

What about the Sas-Tec Back Protectors:

Sas-Tec Back Protector used by Teiz Motorsports

According to the standard 1621-2 the peak of the residual forces of back-protectors may be 18 kN (level 1) respectively 9 kN (level 2). The SAS-TEC back-protector SC-1/12 (used in Teiz products) passes the higher Level 2 without any problems. With the maximum residual force of 7.1 kN (shown in the chart) the SC-1/12 remains clearly under the limit of level 2. More positive aspects besides the low residual forces are the almost linear force gradient with sensationally 1.85 kN/ms and the very long span of time until the force peak. From the first contact until the highest value the body has 3.84 seconds to accommodate.

Other opinions?

One of the most comprehensive tests is the comparison done by Motorrad magazine. In the test, Sas-Tec based products ranked 2nd and 3rd. The APS (Deflexion) based Rukka armor ranked 6th where as d3o ranked 10th (one up from last). According to the article d30 armor actually exceeded the 35 kN limits during their testing.

The whole article is available online but is German. A scanned page (with the best bits) is provided below. The article was published in 6/11 so is fairly recent.

Link to article. Click picture below to enlarge

 

Armor Comparison

 

Complete Test Results

Mens Back Protector

Mens Knee Protector

Mens Shoulder Protector

Mens Elbow Protector

Womens Back Protector

Womens Elbow, Shoulder & Knee Protectors

Hips Armor (men and women)

Correct Armor Positions

 

We may swap the specific armor used in suits at any time without notice.

It will only be substituded by equivalent products from the Sas-Tec range.

The Sas-Tec armor used will always have the same CE rating.

 

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